The Lament of the Survivor
by Kenshin1340
Summary: Weiss has come to understand the contrast of life and loss. Oneshot!Weiss and a celebration of life vs. emphasis on loss theme. Image by LamierFang


**A/N: I'll continue it (prequel style) if it is desired. I hope you enjoy.**

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A white-haired, lithe girl knelt in perfectly trimmed grass. The edge of her eyesight held a small edge of speckled marble.

"All I ever wanted was for people to notice me. Mom and Dad always favored you; you were the heiress, you were all that mattered… I just wanted someone to notice me!"

"Then, _finally_, when you decided you weren't having any of the family business, I decided to step up. I willingly took over all of your duties, I did extra work, barely slept, barely ate, just so mom and dad could notice me, just barely take a glance at me for once! Finally, when you left in a fit of rage like a spoiled little brat did they _finally _notice me!"

"They were disappointed! Imagine that- having your hard work reciprocated by _complete _and _bitter_ disappointment. All they wanted was their star child back; I had to hear them whine and bitch about your absence for an entire. Fucking. Year!" Weiss drug out the first syllable of her curse as if she were reliving that year in that short instance.

"And finally when they realized I was doing everything that they had asked of you, finally they stopped moping around and realized, 'Wow; our second child actually listens to us and does the work that we ask her to!' Like, seriously, for fucks sake, it took them a year! That year was hell for me; I was constantly told that I wasn't good enough, that I wasn't required to do any of what I was doing, that I wasn't doing it right-"

"-but when I finally _did _get things right, they would just tell me to do something else, to move on to the next task- no acknowledgement, no appreciative smile, no "that's pretty good, but you can do better," nothing! Just a sad, slow shaking of the head before issuing me another damn command like I was a puppy… It was like everything I did pertaining to job of heiress just reminded them of you and how they fucking failed at keeping you home- I was just a constant reminder of pent-up failure."

"And you know, better than anyone else in the entire world that I hate explicitly telling anyone anything. Telling someone something in words that is easy to pick up without them is pointless, and so I figured that our parents would pick up on my distress, comfort me, tell me that everything was going to be okay and **make **it okay, because that's what our parents did." Weiss snapped her head up and locked her sister in place with an accusing glare.

"For you, anyways. Never for me. If you had a problem at school, or if you had issues with a boy, or if you needed money for some asinine object that they had no clue of how it functioned but they still bought it for you anyways because it "made you happy". Aaaaanything to fucking make _you _happy." Weiss' words were practically dripping venom at this point and had long since forgotten about tact.

"But me? The unimportant one? I couldn't even ask a question without getting immediately shut down by the "only speak when you're spoken to, child" or the "your sister already decided what we're going to do" when I wanted to do something. I didn't even ask for much! I occasionally wanted a pair of shoes, a new pair of jeans, a cool t-shirt or a sweater for class, but no; mom always said I'd get her old clothes, or your old clothes, or even _dad's_ old clothes! They never said it, but you could practically feel the message of- 'oh, she's just the second child, she doesn't really need much, she's just a back-up, she'll be fine.'"

"And no! I wasn't fine! I wasn't fine at all. When we were younger, I figured it was just something that came with the territory of being a second child, and some things went over my head... Sometimes I even thought that mom and dad just didn't know, that they did care but just flat out didn't understand or know." Weiss' voice softens slightly.

"But my one hope of our parents being parents who wanted more out of their second child than a robot... was dashed that one time I managed to score a play date. Just once, in my entire fourteen years of living in that household, was I able to go to a friend's house. I couldn't even stay the night, but I stayed there for dinner... and that was more than enlightening enough. Her name was Iris."

"She had an older sister as well- I remember being able to bond over that fact with her, but when dinner rolled around, our differences rapidly surfaced." Weiss began to pace back and forth in the grass.

"I remember her parents talking about visiting the mall- Iris' older sister immediately brightened up and, well; she sounded just like you. She went on and on about her favorite store... something 21? Who really cares; the defining moment of that night, something I'll never forget for as long as I live."

"Iris, who had been quiet for the dinner so far, perked up and added a few tidbits to the conversation about the mall. I had mainly tuned out both children's incessant babble, but Iris broke my reverie with a simple question."

"It was a question I had never dared to ask my parents, a question that, at first, only induced a couple of blank looks… Iris asked a very, very simple question."

"'Can you buy me some new shoes, Mom?'"

"I choked on my pesto pasta and the memories of the one time I had asked father that… mother was the one who looked at me with one of her relatively harmless,  
I-kind-of-want-to-help-you-but-not-quite-because-you're-not-Fiora looks every time I asked for things. I quickly learned not to ask father for anything at  
all." Weiss clears her throat- her mouth is getting a little dry from talking, but she presses forward.

"And the mother smiled."

"She smiled a genuine smile and nodded, telling her she'd get some on her way home tomorrow; while they talked about specifics I zoned in on my pasta. Each grain reflected another reason as to why I would never be normal. I would never fit in. I would never understand what it was like to have a normal family."

"I politely asked where the bathroom was and proceeded to sit in the tub for an hour until Iris came knocking on the door. She knocked and knocked and finally I heard the door creak open.

I remember looking up at her and just crying, and she held me and we cried together; she was incredibly empathetic and had seen my butler drop me off instead of my parents."

"I knew that she knew and for once I was okay with that."

"But then she had to go and tell her parents, which, in hindsight I realize was only possible because of the truthful relationship they held."

"And I envied that. I still do."

"But her parents had to go and tell mine and of course I never saw her again."

"I wish I had a sister to console me like she did now."

"Maybe one day." Weiss craned her neck upwards to glance at the growing piece of marble in front of her. Leaning forward, the girl ran her finger across the name carved into the now-visible tombstone and left a bouquet of white lilacs at its base.

**WINTER SCHNEE**

"But for now, enjoy the freedom that you've been granted. I'll endure our parents for…" Weiss stood and stared up into the bright, blue sky and watched a single, pale cloud float across her field of view.

"For the both of us."

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**A/N: I haven't been around. I can't promise my return, but I want to work on tIOe and tTKoR but... I'll try.**

**-Skij**


End file.
